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Monday, 2 March 2015

The Sludgelord Presents: The Doom Chart for March 2015

“You are about to experience one of the strangest meetings ever convened — a joining of […] the most unusual people on Earth! Sit quietly in the shadows of this clandestine conference and observe it well! For from it shall soon be born … The DOOM PATROL” – Arnold Drake

Welcome to the Doom Charts, representing some of the finest sites, podcasts and bands in the stoner and doom metal underground! Each participant lists their favorite new stoner / sludge / doom albums and the results are compiled into the chart below. This is a one-stop shop for the best new albums in the world.

Torche have returned with their latest effort, “Restarter”. Matching an expansive overall sound with thick and crushing riffs is just an everyday thing for them, but this latest release proves they’ll always be some of the best at it. Blasting through ten tracks of thundering sludge metal with a flair for the progressive in what seems like no time. Conform.

Shepherd’s debut album – Stereolithic Riffalocalypse – is one of the best debut albums released in 2015. It’s already gaining some major buzz within the Sludge/Stoner Metal world. What’s not to love about it? ‘Stereolithic Riffalocalypse’ plays out like a weird and wonderful hybrid of Noise, Grunge, Stoner, Doom and Sludge Metal riffs. Shepherd feel they were brought up in the legendary Seattle Grunge scene instead of coming from India. From the opening seconds of Snake Pit you know you’re in for a heavy and wild time. Shepherd has combined classic Melvins style humour with hard-hitting riffs. Look at the song titles – “Turdspeak”, “Black Cock of Armageddon”. Shepherd don’t disappoint here. They’ve released a stunning debut that plays out like a warning shot to the world of Sludge/Stoner Metal that a truly great band has arrived. Start looking over your shoulders as Shepherd is coming for you all. Reproduce.

‘Brothers of the Sonic Cloth’ is sonic Ragnarök—a devastatingly heavy unfolding of events that is oftentimes cinematic in scope. Whether the music is actively destructive or hinting at the windswept desolation of a fallen empire it’s hard not to imagine Surtr raining down upon the gods and bringing forth the fire that engulfs the Earth. If this is the end result of waiting six years, I will gladly wait another six for the next installment. Submit.

Acid King return with probably their most expansive offering yet. Like riding a motorbike on Quaaludes, it has an acid-drenched feeling that things are slowly slipping out of control while the heaviness just helps to propel the trip along nicely. Lori’s vocals, as always, resemble a drug-fuelled succubus luring you to your doom – but what a way to go! This is not meant to be a “heavier than thou” listening experience nor is it a descent into total misery. This is Stoner, Fuzz-laden Doom Blues with a palpable feeling of tripped out vibes that is rarely heard these days. The distorted bass matches the guitar riffs and welds together into a sonic wall of oppressive grooves that help pin down the individual instruments as they wander through the low end of crushing frequencies that are turning your brains into mush. This should be the slab of excellence that brings Acid King back into their well-deserved place at the top of the underground swamp. Stay Asleep.

Elder have crafted a masterpiece of heavy progressive metal constructed with subtle vocal wails, celestial solos, and intricately distorted fuzz. The Mastodonian guitar noodles are orchestrated to the tone of a rocket ship launching from the bowels of the deep blue sea. Imagine Baroness on ecstasy trying to riff their way into a Pink Floyd music video. The more I listen, the harder it is to argue that Lore may have already claimed Album of the Year for 2015. This Is Your God.

Thanks to Lucas for allowing us to republish this article. The Doom Chart is an amazing concept and massive credit to him for putting this together. You can check out the original article here. Support the underground scene and check out the ace sites mentioned above, we are nothing without you guys.

Band Submissions

To those bands who have recently issued their first demo or album via bandcamp and would like to be featured on our 666 Pack Review or considered for a full review or stream please contact Aaron via email including your EPK, band bio, album file or download code, including artwork.

To those bands issuing their sophomore record and so on and would like to be considered for a review or stream on the blog. Get in touch using the same address above

We will consider bands from any genre but exclusively stoner, sludge, doom, psych, post-metal, experimental, black-metal etc. (Whilst I would like to respond to every email, this is not always possible.) Thanks